What does your gut say about Jersey City mayoral race?: Political Insider

The advice for re-election I have repeatedly given local officials in this column is to pay attention to three things that could hurt an administration. Ignore one and life can get annoying, two and it is uncomfortable, three and you're out of office. There is a fourth but it is a rare event. Everything else is white noise.

To stay in office an administration must make certain that they provide municipal services, maintain stable taxes and avoid major public union trouble. The fourth or footnote is to not get yourself or members of your inner circle indicted.

Fulop, Matsikoudis go head-to-head for first time in mayor's race

Mayor Steve Fulop argued that voters should give him a second term in office next month -- and his sole challenger, attorney Bill Matsikoudis, made the case for change -- on the New Jersey City University campus Monday night.

The two men were featured guests at an event hosted by activist group Jersey City Together and billed as its "fall action." The roughly 90-minute meeting was not a traditional mayoral debate or forum, but the two candidates were each given a few minutes to offer in detail their plans to improve public safety, education and housing.

Hard to tell with certainty from that video, but it does look like a daytons, but most likely it is a white gold Daytona. The stainless steel Daytona with a black dial only comes with a black bezel. The bezel of the watch in the video matches the case and bracelet, which is in keeping with a white gold Daytona.

Mayor Steve Fulop, who is seeking a second term, and challenger Bill Matsikoudis will face off for the first time at a Jersey City Together event on the NJCU campus in three weeks. In addition there are at least five mayoral forums scheduled until voters head to the polls on Nov. 7, plus forums for nearly every ward council race and one for the at-large council candidates.

Monday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.: Ward E council debate hosted by the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations at School 4, 107 Bright St.

Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.: Mayoral debate hosted by the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations at School 4, 107 Bright St.

Thursday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.: Ward A council forum hosted by the Black Interest Team Enterprise, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the Astor Place Neighborhood Association and the Hudson County Young Democrats at Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School, 509 Bramhall Ave.

Friday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m.: Mayoral forum hosted by the Black Interest Team Enterprise, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the Astor Place Neighborhood Association and the Hudson County Young Democratsn at Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School, 509 Bramhall Ave.

35 sign up to run for Jersey City council

JERSEY CITY -- A funeral director, a criminal defense attorney and a self-defense cardio fitness instructor who goes by the name Master Sup are among the 35 men and women who will seek nine City Council seats in November's municipal election.

The most crowded races are for the Downtown and Bergen-Lafayette council seats -- six candidates are vying for each. Four candidates each will compete in Greenville, Journal Square and the Heights, while three council hopefuls signed up for the West Side race. Seven candidates are jockeying for the three-at-large seats.

Today was the final day for would-be candidates in the city's Nov 7 mayoral race to file qualifying petitions to get their names on the ballot. The 4 p.m. deadline passed without a third candidate stepping forward.

This is the first time there have been only two mayoral candidates since 1973, when Paul Jordan and Thomas Gangemi Jr. went head to head.

Jersey City cop raises cash for Fulop following promotion

A Jersey City police officer helped organize a big fundraiser for Mayor Steve Fulop last night, less than two months after being promoted to detective.

Ray Regalado, 47, also gave $5,000 to Fulop's council slate on June 29, two days after he attended a major Latinos-for-Fulop fundraiser at Liberty Prime Steakhouse. Reached by phone, Regalado told The Jersey Journal his mid-July promotion "had absolutely nothing to do with" his support of Fulop

Jersey City cop raises cash for Fulop following promotion

A Jersey City police officer helped organize a big fundraiser for Mayor Steve Fulop last night, less than two months after being promoted to detective.

Ray Regalado, 47, also gave $5,000 to Fulop's council slate on June 29, two days after he attended a major Latinos-for-Fulop fundraiser at Liberty Prime Steakhouse. Reached by phone, Regalado told The Jersey Journal his mid-July promotion "had absolutely nothing to do with" his support of Fulop

Who is running in Jersey City's November election?

Control of City Hall in Jersey City is at stake on Nov. 7, when the mayoralty and all nine City Council seats will be up for grabs. Mayor Steve Fulop and seven council members are seeking re-election.

Here are the candidates who have been qualified to appear on the ballot. Would-be candidates have until Tuesday, Sept. 5 to submit petitions to the City Clerk.

City Council races

The nine council seats are split up this way: three members represent the city at large and each of the city's six wards has one council member representing it.

Right now Fulop has six sure allies on the council, two vocal critics and one councilman who has been supportive but not entirely. Two of Fulop's strongest council supporters -- Frank Gajewski, in Ward A, and Candice Osborne, in Ward E -- are not running for re-election.

The lowndown on what's new in Jersey City's mayoral and city council races

Voters will head to the polls in about 100 days for Jersey City's first November mayoral and City Council races (the nonpartisan elections were traditionally held in May). What's the status of the campaign so far?

Cash lead for Fulop

According to campaign finance reports released yesterday, Mayor Steve Fulop's campaign hauled in $356,398 in the last quarter (April through June), more than four times the amount raised by his chief rival, attorney Bill Matsikoudis.

Fulop has cash lead in Jersey City mayor's race

Voters will head to the polls in about 100 days for Jersey City's first November mayoral and City Council races (they were traditionally held in May). What's the status of the campaign so far?

Cash lead for Fulop

Mayor Steve Fulop’s campaign hauled in $356,398 in the last quarter (April through June), more than four times the amount raised by his chief rival, attorney Bill Matsikoudis. Matsikoudis and his campaign team brought in $84,080. Fulop’s haul includes money given to his own campaign, his council ticket and the Fulop-controlled Jersey City Democratic Committee.

Jersey City Mayor and Council Race Takes Shape

With five months to go before Jersey City voters cast ballots in the city’s first November municipal election, Mayor Steven Fulop on Wednesday announced that first-time candidate Moriah ‘Mo’ Kinberg will be joining the the Team Fulop Slate.

Kinberg, a former campaign manager for the NJ Work Environment Council, will be Team Fulop’s Ward D candidate. She joins at-large council members Daniel Rivera, Joyce Watterman, and Council President Rolando Lavarro as well as Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson and Ward A council candidate Denise Ridley.

“Mo has long served as an example of a positive force in the Heights community, and has proven to be someone who cares deeply about improving her neighborhood in a variety of ways,” said Fulop in a statement. The mayor is a resident of the Heights, the neighborhood Kinberg is running to represent.

The amount is more than twice what Bill Matsikoudis, the former corporation counsel, raised since Jan. 1 for himself and Rick Johnson, Matsikoudis' Ward A council candidate. Matsikoudis' team collected $58,017 in the first quarter of 2017, according to campaign finance reports made public today.

Boggiano had been in talks with Fulop, who has been a frequent target of Boggiano's barbs since the two were elected to their current posts in 2013, to run on Fulop's ticket in the upcoming municipal race.

"I appreciate that Mayor Fulop asked me to run on his ticket," Boggiano said in a statement. "However, after careful consideration I have decided to remain the independent voice and will be seeking re-election as Ward C councilman."

Can two Jersey City politicians who have sparred for four years share a ticket without driving each other crazy?

Sources tell The Jersey Journal that an "Odd Couple" pairing may be in the works for the Nov. 7 city election, with Councilman Rich Boggiano in talks to join Mayor Steve Fulop's council slate. The mayoralty and all nine council seats are up for grabs in the fall.

The potential partnership would represent a sharp turn for Boggiano, who has built his political brand largely by opposing major Fulop initiatives, and Fulop, whose council allies have shown near-unanimous fealty to Fulop since his election as mayor four years ago.

Jersey City mayoral race is no contest: Political Insider

The Jersey City election for mayor is over. Under the present circumstances, the administration of Mayor Steve Fulop will return to power following the November race. There's no "change" on the horizon. It's all as simple as that. Only outside intervention (of a nonpolitical nature) has the capability of changing the inevitable.

Some folks within the Democratic Party say my declaration - that it's over before it begins - is just an attempt at stirring the pot for some reaction by Fulop critics, potential and declared candidates, and gadflies.

Nope, I'm just stating the obvious. In fact, what opposition exists would have been better off promoting Fulop for governor - thus forcing him to run in the primary. Had he won, the mayor more than likely would be out of the city by the end of the year. Had he lost, Fulop would have been perceived as vulnerable and someone seeking a consolation prize. And even then any opponent's success would be questionable.

JC mayoral election 8 months away: Political Insider

As one Jersey City mayoral candidate has reminded me, we're only eight months away from the Jersey City municipal election and there seems to be no pre-fight hype. Heavyweight challengers ain't on the card, and there's little "hate-the-incumbent-because ..." material that is sticking to the wall.

All this means is that we can expect an amplification of hysteria, finger-pointing and self-promotion from announced and yet-to-surface candidates for mayor and the City Council. Any noise will at least allow for headlines and folks like yours truly to poke the bears in government caves and excite the torch- and pitchfork-bearers on Grove Street.

This is the first year in this century that city residents will vote for their local leaders in November, and you would expect that a general election that is also a gubernatorial race will bring big crowds to voting booths. I have my doubts.

Brian Stack endorses Steve Fulop's re-election bid

JERSEY CITY -- In the first major endorsement of the 2017 Jersey City mayor's race, State Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack is backing Mayor Steve Fulop, with a rally planned for outside Stack's office on Saturday afternoon.

Stack told The Jersey Journal he's endorsing Fulop, who is seeking a second term in November, because Fulop is an honest man who is easy to work with. Stack's legislative district includes parts of Jersey City.

"He's mayor with progressive ideals and it's refreshing to find that in Hudson County," Stack said.

Mayor Steve Fulop, who is seeking a second term in November, leads the pack with total donations in the last quarter of 2016 -- about $337,000, counting donations to his City Council team and to the Jersey City Democratic Committee. Fulop also comes out on top when it comes to out-of-town cash: 82 percent of his total haul, about $274,000, comes from donors who live outside of Jersey City.

Fulop setting a new course with re-election in mind: Political Insider

Time is not tangible but too much of it can have a subtle effect, other than aging, on people. There's a tendency to casually reflect too long on one's place in life. I suspect this was the case with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. While in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign, he took 10 days off for a delayed honeymoon. He returned with a message - his bid for governor was over.

Instead Fulop will seek re-election next year for the job he says he enjoys, mayor of what will more than likely become the largest city in the state during the next term in office. This means a big course direction for the administration. What is the post-dream plan of the Jersey City administration? It's simple - micro-manage city government. Wasn't that the plan during the first term in office? Yeah, but without having to impress everyone in the state, it's a bit like throwing the local operation into fourth gear.